RANDOM THOUGHTS:
A quick blog programming note before we get things going: today will mark the final Thursday random thoughts post of 2010. This Saturday will also mark my final End of the Week for 2010 and this Monday will mark my final random thoughts post of 2010 period. This is because I've decided to take the next two or three weeks off of my regularly scheduled programming to a) spend Christmas week taking my mini-winter vacation and b) spend the final week of 2010 running my second installment of the four part End of the Year blog special which should begin sometime around Monday, the 27th of December. However, if you just come to this site to read my weekly NFL picks post, don't worry. The column will continue on until the season finally wraps up. I shall mention this periodically as the week progresses (and even give more specific details while I'm at it), but for now let's get to the real reason why I created this post: to post my most recent batch of the RTs. The following were on my mind between Monday, December 13th and Thursday, December 16th:
- There was no way that New York Jets strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi tripped that Dolphins player on the sidelines by accident, or alone. You can bet that someone, most likely Rex Ryan, told him and the guys who were bungled up next to him to possibly go the extra mile for the team (if you know what I mean) if the case were to occur.
- Just when you think ESPN's Favre lovefest couldn't get any worse, they manage to waste about half their nighttime editions of SportsCenter verbally fellating the Vikings quarterback for finally missing a game after countless injuries and three un-retirings. If I'm not mistaken, I'm pretty sure that they didn't even bother to break the Cliff Lee deal with the Phillies on air because they cared more about having John Anderson wrap up his essay on Favre's streak. ESPN, just do us all a favor and just sign Favre as an analyst next season. Lord knows you can't get enough of the #4! If you sign him, then you're love can continue a lot longer than it can be if he retires and doesn't sign up as an analyst!
- Congratulations to Facebook overlord Mark Zuckerberg on winning TIME magazine's prestigious Person of the Year award for 2010. I'm sure that, once he received the award, Mr. Zuckerberg was filled with a mix of both honor and excitement. I know that that was the feeling I got when TIME said that I was the co-recipient of the 2006 Person of the Year award!
- Being extremely attractive makes life so much easier...or so I've been told.
- My thoughts on the Cliff Lee deal by the Phillies: expect to see Philadelphia break the record in 2011 for most 1-0 or 2-1 victories by a team in a single season.
- This apparent bid by Magic Johnson, AEG owner Phil Andschutz and Tim Leiweke to bring an NFL team to Los Angeles is starting to become pretty serious,especially with the propsed designs of a football stadium in downtown Los Angeles created by AEG a few days ago. That's right, it seems very likely that an NFL team will play football in LA in as soon as five years from now. Here are my thoughts on the possible teams that could make the move and why it is possible:
a. The Minnesota Vikings (Odds: 24-1)
Now that their stadium is deflated and will not be played in until 2011, the Vikings are going to use this to make the twin cities use their tax dollars to create a new football stadium just like they did for the Twins and Target Field. But what happens when the cities of Minneapolis and/or St. Paul deny that request, like they did in 2008 when the taxpayers voted down a request to subsidies for a new stadium? Will the Vikings use their own money to make a new stadium, or will they just take the highway West? Personally, I think that because of the team's longtime history in the state of a thousand lakes and its longtime fanbase with the team, it seems the least likely that the Vikings will make a move. But, then again, you never know. After all, if it can happen with the Browns and the Colts, it can happen to anyone.
b. The Oakland Raiders or the San Fransisco 49ers (Odds: 16-1)
Their team revenues rank among the lowest in the league and both teams have had stadiums that have been long overdue to get replaced. You have to figure that one of these teams (especially the Raiders, who have moved twice in the past thirty years) might threaten leaving their respective cities if their crummy stadiums aren't renovated and/or demolished in favor of a better one.
c. The San Diego Chargers (Odds: 11-1)
They are playing in a city where the fanbase just do not seem to care about the team as much as in other cities with proffessional sports team. This is represented by the constant TV blackouts that the team has on a yearly basis since 2008. Therefore, it's possible that the team's current owners or the team of Johnson/AEG (if they cuy LA) will use this as a tool to move to a fanbase that has been hungry for a while to have an NFL team in their backyard. Their lease at Qualcomm Stadium also has been expired for a while, so they're technically free to locate anytime they would like to. Finally, the team will also keep its Orange County fan base if they make a move, which I think is a pretty decent factor to look at.
d. The Buffalo Bills (Odds: 9-1)
The team is going to be fine as long as Ralph Wilson Jr. remains alive. But what if the old man finally croaks? I've heard numerous times from Bills that I both known or have read that neither of Wilson's kids would like to own the team. Will this group of LA investors then take this advantage, grab it and rip a football team fro Central NY? It's very possible. Besides, its not like Buffalo is going to do anything. If I had a choice to have a team in Buffalo or a team in LA, I would choose LA anytime.
e. Jacksonville Jaguars (Odds: 3-1)
This team seems like the one most likely to make the move to LA at some point. It's a relatively small market (compared to other cities in the league) in one of the least populated areas of Florida (a state with two teams already, by the way) with a fanbase that has the hardest time selling out games (as shown by the constant blackouts in the 2009 season). They're also the one team with the most financial problems, the league's worst attendance (with games filled at about 68.4 percent capacity as of 2009) and the only times it can fill seats is if the game is a Georgia/Florida college football game.
- On Saturday, one of my favorite TV programs of the past month and a half, ESPN's "30 for 30" finally wrapped up its series with "Pony Excess," the story of the 'death penalty' suffered by the SMU football team in 1987. In a year where the Leader has experienced harsh criticism (righfully so) over events such as July's "The Decision," the constant Brett Favre love fest and giving Matt Millen and Joe Morgan a medium to corrupt the minds of sports fans, this series (executive producer by none other than blog Hall of Famer Bill Simmons) has been able to redeem the channel in some way with their great stories usually that were usually told very well (though, let's be honest, there were some crappy ones thrown in there, too) and I have to give it up to everyone involved in the project some great TV every during these past fourteen months (even if the scheduling was very infrequent at times). Simmons stated in a live chat a week or so that the series will still come back to release some extra documentaries under some banner like "30 for 30 Presents" beginning next year (including that Steve Bartman doc that I've been waiting to see for a while) but until then, here are my top ten favorites of them all (and ,yes, they are ranked):
10. "King's Ransom"
Since this was the first "30 for 30" episode broadcast, it did a great job of setting the bar for the other twenty nine episodes of the series. Directed by Peter Berg, the film took an in-depth look at the fascinating story of Wayne Gretzky's sudden shift from his beloved Edmonton to Los Angeles and the events that followed. It was a comboo of the right type of story that the "30 for 30" gang were trying to film, a good non-biased take of the story by Berg, and it features some great moments including the parts where you can tell Gretzky's regrets of the move as he was playing golf with the creator of ""Friday Night Lights" that makes it all worthwhile.
9. "Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. the New York Knicks"
Not as great of a documentary in my opinion as many people have portrayed it to be, but it still packs ninety minutes of plain old, solid fun into the viewing. Another great job by filmmaker Dan Klores.
8. "Muhammad and Larry"
In one of the series most compelling docs of the series, Albert Maysles explores the 1980 fight between the aging Muhammad Ali and the awfully under appreciated Larry Holmes.
7. "Run, Ricky, Run"
This was one of my most anticipated docs heading into the Spring 2010 slate of episodes, and it didn't fail to dissapoint. Not only did directors Sean Pamphilon and Royce Toni good job giving a one hour recap of those crazy five years from 2005-2009 when Ricky Williams went from quitting the NFL to his marijuana inspired search for life to return to football and his first 1,000 yard season in season years last season, but they did a great job of giving it in an un-biased approach. Then again, I'm sure that anyone could have made a Williams doc into a good one. That man's story has to arguably be one of the most fascinating sports stories of the last decade.
6. "The U"
This is the only "30 for 30" episode where I have appreciated it more and liked it more as time as gone by. Not only is it just as fun to watch as my #9 choice, but it just gosh darn entertaining from start to finish. In fact, in my four or five repeat viewings of it I can never recall a time where I actually checked my watch to see how much time is left.
5. "The Band That Wouldn't Die"
It's got all the checklist for a great "30 for 30": a well-known filmmaker taking an hour to talk about a story that he can personally relate to why giving a compelling perspective. The only problem I have with it, is that its just too damn short. You could tell that sometime in the final ten minutes or so that Barry Levinson was just rushing to get everything that he has left to cover to fill that one hour timeslot. This begs the question: why was Barry Levinson of all people not allowed an extra few minutes to make the episode better? It just doesn't make any sense.
4. The Best That Never Was"
You can argue that two hours was maybe a bit too long, but the Marcus Dupree story is just too interesting and the footages that director Jonathan Hock were able to obtain were so good that it makes up for it. Plus, the added bonus of seeing Dupree's life now in the town of Philadelphia, Mississippi was also a very nice added touch. It was also the best out of that pretty dissapointing stretches of "30 for 30" episodes from August to December where only three or four were actually really good followed by main clunkers, so I'm giving added bonus for that.
3. "No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson"
Bill James just proves once again that he is the king of sports documentaries with another fantastic 90 minutes about one of the most controversial moments of the life of one of the NBA's most controversial players of all-time.
2. "June 17, 1994"
What a day that was, am I right? The start of the FIFA World Cup, Arnold Palmer's final round ever in the U.S. Open, an NBA Finals game, the New York Rangers Stanley Cup playoffs game, and the most infamous car chase in American history all in a span of...twelve hours or so. Anyways, everything about it was just great, from Brett Morgen's wall to wall channel surfing style storytelling to its cornucopia of great footage from this event to
1. "The Two Escobars"
It's got everything: suspense, compelling storytelling, soccer, drugs, murder, sadness, heartbreak, riveting footage...it makes you wonder why Jeff Zimbalist bothered putting this on TV instead of just releasing it straight to movie theaters. Along with "The Band That Wouldn't Air," "No Crossover," "The U," "Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks," and "Once Brothers," its one of the few documentaries that I really think encompasses the show's mission statement.
The Worst Three
28. "The House of Steinbrenner"
29. "Four Days in October"
30. "Marian Jones: Press Pause"
Honorable Mentions:
- "Once Brothers"
- "Into the Wind"
- "Pony Excess"
So, that's going to do it for this edition for the RTs. Now get outta here, you crazy kids!
Sincerely,
Your pal: mj15
If you have any opinions on today's post, or if you just have any suggestions or tips for my next blog entry, e-mail me at: mj1599@aol.com. Your e-mails are greatly appreciated.
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